The present patent application relates generally to manually played games and, more particularly, concerns games involving dropping of game pieces, or the like, into scoring areas.
With the soaring popularity of sports action computer games, manual games have suffered a steep decline. However, manual games offered training in hand-eye coordination and certain athletic skills that is just not available from operating computer controllers. A form of manual game that was popular in amusement arcades involved rolling a ball down an alley which ended in an upward ramp that launched the ball towards a playing surface with openings dimensioned to receive the ball. Different openings were associated with different point values (positive and negative), allowing the player to accumulate a score by playing a fixed number of balls. As entertaining as such a game might be, it lacked the attraction and excitement of sports which are currently popular, and a game of this type which would be useful would be far too expensive for home use.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a manual game which incorporates the physical realism of popular sports. In particular, sports such as football, basketball, soccer and golf are specifically contemplated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a manual game with sufficient versatility to simulate multiple sports.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a manual game which is simple and inexpensive in construction, can be assembled readily by a person of ordinary skill, and can be played by individuals of all ages.